Music Devotion: Festival Season 2012

Okay, so tomorrow I'll get back to posting on the law again. I found this and just felt it was really sweet and wanted to share it. Enjoy :) ...

(April 2012, Amy Ettinger)
     Standing boldly at the front of the crowd, the stage beckons fans and believers as a place of worship. The massive speakers and alluring lights excite and tease as the music gods take the stage. An infectious wrath of heavy bass detonates through the speakers and a vigorous audience of believers explodes into celebration. Their one true faith? Music.
     The days are growing longer and the weather is slowly turning sweeter. Summer’s batting her lashes and taunting us with hints of sunshine and anticipation. It’s the season of worship – festival season is upon us again.
     In the middle of grass parking lots, cars are parked side-by-side, lined in perfect rows across a muddy, abandoned field. The sun is sweltering and relentless – skin is sticky with dried sweat. The air reeks of pungent body odor, over heated porta-potties and wafts of vendor pizza and vegetarian burritos.
     Our neighbors are a dynamic tribe of merrymakers, amiable and outspoken. They saunter over to the canopy at first sign of constructing a temporary home.
Regardless of age, appearance or origin, festivalgoers create makeshift families united by a love for the music.
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     The music festival is a celebration of appreciation and reverence for music. It embodies an entire subculture of passionate and devoted believers. Attracting an ever-growing, cult-like following, festivals have invited enthusiasts into laboratories of light and sound where musical scientists experiment with chemicals of noise and vibration to stimulate a reaction.
     And while capitalist parasites are not wholly eradicated, both the good and the bad elements share the grounds in harmony. The mutual appreciation, respect and care born among sincere believers trump the wicked.
     Thousands of people slowly herd like cattle in the same direction. Some are flaunting amusing outfits, drowned in glitter and metallics. From sunglasses and beads, to full costumes, the laissez-faire dress code heightens the excitement and exhilaration permeating the atmosphere.
     Behind a set of white canopies, the stage looms ahead of the masses. Its grandeur and sheer majesty is captivating, and it boldly stands as a sacred emblem of expression, engagement, escape and ecstasy.
     The clang of a symbol and pluck of a single guitar string tease the anxious and impatient masses. Clouds of smoke billow above the crowd as we wait for a sign, any sign of music. We wait for our preacher to ignite the stage and we wait for the overwhelming exuberance and madness of passion to explode around us.
     Song is unlike any medium – its comprehension lies in the reaction to a melody awakening the body, the sensation of vibrations pulsating the eardrum and the fervor it ignites in the spirit.
Live music is collaboration between artist and crowd – a piece of work created through the genuine energy and enthusiasm level of the fans that is reflected in evolving and layered grooves.
May the music stay fiery and its influence as genuine and momentous as the last, as we embark again on the epic search for transcendental enlightenment before the stage of our dreams.
(Headstash.com, http://headstash.com/magazine/on-the-beat/1623-music-devotion-festival-season-2012)